The scare of the first day in the Physics lab lingered in my
mind (please read the post “The Common Balance”). On the second day we were herded to the
chemistry lab. “Great place on earth’, I told myself. Without any introduction
the teacher asked me to go to the burette. Burette?? Seeing my confusion the teacher pointed to
the table. I found it very innocuous unlike the common balance. Seeing the tap
I turned it gently and the next moment I had the tap in my hand detached from
the main body of the burette. All hell was let loose. I was fined Rs 40 for the
damage. Those days petrol cost less than Rs 2 per litre and you got 150
coconuts for Rs 40. The whole class fell into a gloom. The next day some of my
class mates came up with a solution. A tutorial college was prepared to buy the
broken burette for Rs 10.. Great news. We went to the H.O.D. But he refused to
give the “broken” burette. His argument surprised me. He said “ suppose I give
it to you and somehow it reaches the hands of the Naxalbaris!?" They will use it
to make bombs and you will be in trouble !" Oh God, what I have damaged was
something that can be used to make bombs.!?! After all these years I am very
sure that the tap could have been put back in place and the burette could have
been in use for many more years. (The astute tutorial Principal knew it well.
And the H.o.D knew it better!!??)
Those days Kerala was reeling under the threat of Naxalism.
I remember this Boban and Molly story.
One morning the “Chettan” (panchayat president) sprang from his bed and
started running towards the mirror on the wall. When asked why, his answer was ‘let
me see whether my head is there above my neck or not’ .
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The scare of these two incidents never left me. Later when I
started my career as a teacher, I used to feel very restless
during the lab sessions. Usually these lab sessions are a happy retreat
for the teachers. The lab was a place
where I never felt at home. When students came with complaints I had to go with
them and get the complaints rectified. The potentiometer was a horrifying thing for
me. Students always had problems with it. Most often they came with the
complaint that they get only one-side-deflection. While walking with them with pretended
courage I used to tell in my mind, “son, you now have at least one side
deflection !!”
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Thank you for your courage to publish this universal phenomena, which may happen for every science student. Students from all geographical area are still undergoing through such processes!!! And, in most cases, the labs will be attended by either new teachers or the lazy old professor emirates. The former are still students with lot of anxieties where as the latter group are the enlightened Buddhhaas, without any tension at all. So the problems are always for the students. However, though the count is less, there were always teachers like you with mindful of compassion and concerns. Thanks God for making such mistakes in creation atleast once in a while.
ReplyDeleteWith the experience in fullyequipped lab at kattappana ...i somehow arranged the potentiometer apparatus for measuring the internal resistance....(the search for rod of cell jockey etc resembles the search for id card by ammu every morning). As part of new system of teaching& learning i took this topic in lab...The students were very eager ...... but......no deflection was there even after my 'thirikkal pirickal thattal and muttal'. To escape i commented ...as it is not used for several years it is not in good condition. But now....? I will show them the apparatus..... and replaced potentiometer expt with anothr expt
ReplyDeleteThat means you are now "self reliant as a teacher". At this stage you never need any trade secrets from me. All the best Nadia. Even as I say this I would like to tell you to never scold or blame a student, particularly when the lapse or error is on our part. And inside the lab never make the record book or observation book a flying saucer.
ReplyDeleteI love to read your post now m waiting for next post
ReplyDeleteBurette